Don Roach: RI GOP’s Passionate Pursuit of Mediocrity

This past Sunday, Seattle Seahawks cornerback, Richard Sherman, railed against a “mediocre” receiver, Michael Crabtree, after his Seahawks defeated Crabtree’s San Francisco 49ers. While mediocre usually caries somewhat negative connotations, the RI GOP’s “Getting to 25” initiative seeks to get the state to the middle of the pack when it comes to a number of different national economic metrics.

In a press release a couple of weeks ago, House Minority Leader Brian Newberry and the six member GOP House delegation unveiled the 16 point plan that is directly focused on the Rhode Island economy. Part of the plan is to exempt Social Security Income from state income tax and having all bills go through a fiscal evaluation prior to being debated on the committee floor. In general terms the plan is to reduce unemployment figures, reduce the tax burden, and increase jobs in the state. Focused, simple, and it’s not like they are going for number one!

At the bottom, mediocrity looks pretty good

But should we be satisfied with mediocrity?

Well, that depends on the eye of the beholder. We’ve been last or near last in unemployment for the past several years and getting to the middle of the pack would be a marked improvement.

So the middle doesn’t look so bad. Obviously, if we were at the top of the economic heap, the middle would be an insult, but we’re not even close to that. Yes, mediocrity isn’t something we want our kids to shoot for or even want for ourselves, in general, but given where our state’s economy is at mediocrity is a good goal.

We must build the foundation to become successful and every journey starts somewhere. The RI GOP is putting gauntlet down and saying we must start here.

What is the Democrat plan?

The elephant in the room is – what in the world are the Democrats doing to address our economy? Well, over at RI Future, they (shockingly…not) took issue with the “Getting to 25” plan and added that it was a plan that wouldn’t connect with voters. They wrote:

The Rhode Island GOP’s new Getting to 25 agenda will likely lead them nowhere with voters. By clinging to their antiquated world views, they have isolated themselves from Rhode Island’s cultural mainstream, which has moved to a place they don’t understand.

If reducing unemployment, reducing the tax burden, and increasing jobs equal “antiquated world views” then the RI GOP is guilty, guilty, guilty! But if the writers at RI Future reflect the majority of Democrats in this state as relates to our economy, then there’s no wonder why our state is in its current economic doldrums. Republicans are often viewed as the curmudgeons and killjoys in politics, holding onto a long dead past. But this plan is anything but and underscores how Rhode Island Republicans are looking to radically change the economic climate in the state.

RI Future illustrates the disconnect the Democratic party has with rank and file Rhode Islanders when they say:

The point is that RI GOP, in their insistence that all is catastrophe, fails to see that a large portion of the state’s population feels otherwise. Until they can connect with dynamic core of modern Rhode Island, they will continue to languish at the polls.

Ranking dead last in unemployment is catastrophe. Ranking near last in tax burden on regular Rhode Islanders is catastrophe. If our economy isn’t in a catastrophic stat, what is a catastrophe? Further, if I’m not mistaken the number one issue facing Rhode Island as identified by Rhode Islanders is the economy . Seems to me that if the RI GOP is focused on addressing Rhode Island’s number one issue, that’s the very definition of being responsible and accountable to the public. It’s a far cry from disconnected RI GOP initiatives of the past and instead demonstrates that the RI GOP is looking to connect ideas with problems that many of us are facing.

I applaud Newberry and the other members of the caucus for encapsulating their goals and presenting ideas Rhode Islanders can get behind. What’s our governor doing to address the problem? Reorganizing the EDC? What are the Democrats doing? What is their plan?

If you know what their plan is, please share it with the rest of us because I don’t know what it is today, didn’t know what it was yesterday, and have no idea what it will be tomorrow.

Can the message reach the masses?

The struggle with the RI GOP has always been viability in a state house dominated by Democrats. I fear the pursuit of mediocrity won’t get to the masses and instead we’ll focus on issues that don’t connect with many voters such as licenses for illegal immigrants or (despite my love for them) pro-life license plates. As important as those issues are to discuss, it’s about the economy, stupid.

If the GOP can be the party that’s talking about putting money back in your pocket and getting you back to work then maybe they have a chance to pick up a few seats this fall and more importantly, pass legislation that aids the state’s economic health.

Unfortunately, Democratic rule has led to nothing but bottom of the barrel economic policies and Democratic critiques that are so out of touch with reality they’re almost laughable.

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Demand for table games at Twin River casino has prompted the Lottery Commission to grant the facility additional gaming tables, and the state’s take from the combination of video slot machines and table games is going up each month as a direct result of the tables in place.

The 14 new tables to be added will make for a grand total of 80. More gaming tables will surely be added down the road.

I suppose we should all be cheering about this because of the enhanced revenue stream the state will enjoy, which it desperately needs, but it begs a larger and more troubling question: what will happen to Twin River – and more importantly to the state – when Massachusetts’ three casinos and its single racino slot parlor come on line?

A leaked draft of a major report expected to be released in the Fall by the International Panel on Climate Change(IPCC), an international group of scientists under the auspices of the United Nations, landed on the front page of The New York Times last week. The report, a comprehensive and consensus analysis of the latest scientific research on climate change, finds that if greenhouse gas emissions continue apace a sea level rise of as much as 100 feet by the end of the century is a real possibility. It characterizes the assertion that human activity is the cause of most of global warming as a “near certainty.”

I’m struggling to make sense of the verdict in the Trayvon Martin case as I’m sure many people are. I have a number of gut reactions at war with my respect of the justice system. And it’s a battle. So, what I decided to do Sunday was investigate as much of the public facts as possible in order to piece together why in the world a 17-year-old boy is dead.

Back in the 1990s, circumstances so maddened Dr. Matthias Felleisen, he felt forced to create Program by Design (PxD) to bring life back to computer science and algebra, both. Since then, thousands of students have used it to learn the elements of programming, with or without a teacher. Even I could understand its free, online textbook. The PxD target audience were first-year college students, but Felleisen's team wanted it to be accessible to clever 10-year-olds. The NSF and other major funders continue to be impressed.

While the beat goes on across Rhode Island to trumpet information about HealthSourceRI, the health insurance exchange created as a result of Governor Chafee’s Executive Order in response to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the AFL-CIO has been pleading with the Obama Administration to waive some requirements of the ACA, otherwise known as Obamacare, for members of their multi-employer health and welfare plans.

In the late 1960’s when I was in graduate school many of my classmates sought careers in government and not on Wall Street. They believed that public service could make a difference in the lives of Americans. This positive view that government was part of the solution has been replaced by a more cynical view of government at all levels. This should not be surprising because too many times government has been ineffective in providing essential public services. Earlier this year the Pew Center for the People and the Press found that “trust in the federal government remains mired near an historic low and frustration with government remains high.”

Governor Chafee’s State of the State blueprint is not yet 24 hours old and so the reactions and assessments of it are still pouring in. However, before the battles begin over spending, borrowing, cuts, labor provisions, and whether or not there will be any meaningful changes to spur economic development, both the Governor and General Assembly members should pause, take a deep breath, and consider a proposal from a wise and truly independent voice in the State Senate.

Gina Raimondo was all about transparency—during her first year in office. Apparently, sunlight was so 2011. The General Treasurer, who admirably took up the fight for pension reform after her predecessor—Frank Caprio—lost his campaign for governor thanks to his leadership on the issue, named her report describing the need for pension reform “Truth in Numbers”. It was a brilliant move, as she successfully separated the issue from emotional politics over the promises made to retirees that the state couldn’t keep.

The city of Providence is a very diverse place. In fact, it’s over 62% minority, making it a so-called “minority majority” city. However, the city of Providence is only a very small part of the overall state and region. ￼

Metropolitan Providence is one of the whitest major regions in America. Looking at metro areas with more than one million people, Providence ranks third in the country for the total non-minority population. The percentage of the population that is “white only, non-hispanic” – Hispanic people can be of any race – is nearly 80%. Only Pittsburgh and Cincinnati are higher.

In less than a month since Jorge Mario Bergoglio emerged as Francis the 1st , this new Pope has through his decisions and actions gained my full attention and respect. What he has shown us is that you rarely go wrong when you return to your mission. Perhaps Francis’ undeniable devotion to the works of Mercy, both corporal and spiritual, can provide a teachable moment for each of us— and our politicians in particular.

The Metlife Survey of the American Teacher recently released a report from their 2012 investigation into the state of U.S. educators. The annual survey, which was conducted among 1,000 K-12 public school teachers and 500 K-12 public school principals, offers an invaluable snapshot of the condition of those professionals to whom we entrust the educating of our nation’s youth. This year’s results continue a disturbing—and an escalating—trend that should have all of us seriously reconsidering what kinds of strategies will actually, positively reform our education system.

"The television business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side."

The quote above is often attributed to Gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson, who frequently denied he was a journalist at all. Whether or not he said it isn’t necessarily the point; whether or not it was said to describe the television business, or music business, or radio business isn’t necessarily the point either. Hell, you could be nodding in affirmation as you read it at your desk in the finance world, or the world of politics or sales or law or….well, now you do get the point.